Sixty-one percent of Global South countries face overlapping drinking-water, wealth and gender-equality vulnerabilities, affecting about 2 billion people, according to a 2026 United Nations University report.

The report, from the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, analyzed 138 countries across seven regions using a new Water Quality Vulnerability Index.

The index combines three measures: drinking-water safety, household wealth and gender inequality. It is designed to show where unsafe water is not only an infrastructure problem, but part of a wider pattern of social and economic vulnerability.

The findings show that 54% of the assessed countries fall below the report’s preferred drinking-water safety threshold. The report says that indicates widespread poor water quality across much of the Global South.

About 30% of countries fall into what the authors call a “lose-lose-lose” cluster: poor drinking-water safety, low wealth and wide gender gaps.

By contrast, 54 countries fall into the “win-win-win” category, with stronger drinking-water safety, higher wealth indicators and lower gender inequality. That group includes countries such as Mauritius, Armenia, Qatar, Russia and Uruguay.

Water safety tracks inequality, but does not simply follow income

The report finds strong statistical links between water safety, wealth and gender equality. A multiple regression model explained 73.4% of the variation in drinking-water safety across the countries studied.

But the authors warn against treating wealth or gender equality as automatic pathways to cleaner water. Countries with similar income levels often had sharply different vulnerability scores, suggesting that governance, infrastructure, climate, conflict and cultural factors also shape outcomes.

That caveat is central to the report’s argument. It says policy based only on correlated indicators can miss the underlying causes of unsafe water and misdirect investment.

The report points to Niger, Nigeria, Namibia and Guyana as examples of hotspots where structural deficits and environmental or political conditions can undermine water safety.

It also names Mauritius, Morocco, Jordan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam as examples of countries that have kept drinking water comparatively safe despite more modest income levels.

Africa ranks as the most vulnerable region

The report finds major regional differences. Developing countries in Europe are the least vulnerable on the Water Quality Vulnerability Index, followed by countries in South America, Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands and Africa.

On drinking-water safety alone, developing countries in Europe had an average score of 57.1, while Africa had the lowest regional average, at 17.7. Country scores ranged from 1.7 in Niger to 79.9 in Brunei.

The report says Africa’s lower performance may reflect limited access to safe water, underdeveloped infrastructure and weaker water-management systems. It also notes that rapid urbanization can strain systems when infrastructure fails to keep pace.

The regional gap was not only about water. Africa also recorded the lowest regional average on the International Wealth Index and the highest average gender inequality score among the regions assessed.

Why it matters and what the report recommends

Unsafe water can compound poverty by increasing health costs, reducing school and work opportunities, and forcing households to spend time and money securing alternatives.

The report emphasizes that women and girls are often responsible for water collection and household water management. When sources are distant, scarce or contaminated, those burdens can come at the expense of education, health and economic opportunity.

That makes water policy more than a technical question of pipes, pumps and treatment systems. The authors argue that water planning should also account for gender equity, public trust, local governance and household-level burdens.

The report calls for countries to incorporate the Water Quality Vulnerability Index into national development planning. It also recommends pairing index tracking with interviews, case studies and other qualitative research to identify root causes.

Other recommendations include regional water-security alliances, locally tailored interventions, environmental-justice principles in water governance and a Global Water Resilience Fund focused on community-driven projects with women’s participation.

The report frames those steps as part of an integrated approach to the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 5 on gender equality, SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation, and SDG 10 on reduced inequalities.

Its central conclusion is that economic growth alone is not enough. Safe drinking water depends on infrastructure, but also on whether institutions distribute resources fairly and protect communities most exposed to environmental risk.